In 1977, Kevin Donovan appropriated the name of a 19th Century Zulu chief, began throwing Bronx block parties, and became one of the elite DJs of the early hip hop scene. He cut his funk 45s with Kraftwerk and helped to found the conscious, Afrocentric Zulu Nation movement, which briefly rose to prominence in the rap world in the late 80s and early 90s. As Afrika Bambaataa, he changed music forever in the space of just two 1982 singles, the sublime slices of electro-rap "Planet Rock" and "Looking for the Perfect Beat". So, given his hip-hop deity status, you'll forgive me for cutting him some slack as he continues his quest for the perfect beat at age 44.
By the sound of things, Bambaataa is influenced today by all of the things his early records influenced-- big beat, house, electro, hip hop. It's funny to hear the updated beats and tougher low-end of the 00s paired with the stiff cadence of ultra-old-school rap; the way it's so unabashedly corny is an anachronism, but an entertaining one. A casual survey of the lyrics reveals that the most commonly uttered words by Bambaataa's latest Zulu Nation crew are "Afrika" and "Bambaataa," followed closely by "Zulu Nation," but it's impossible to call it boastful-- they just seem to be celebrating their ability to make funky dance music and have a good time.
And it is a good time, uptempo and stuffed with spiky synth, the occasional scratch, catchy chant, and-- of course-- a parade of thumping, charismatic beats. "Got That Vibe" opens the album with a wicked sitar sample and a killer rhythm track and they're off, complete with covers of Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango's amazing 1972 club hit "Soul Makossa" and Gary Numan's "Metal". Numan even shows up to sing on "Metal", sounding like he has about 80 marbles in his mouth. "2137" and "Almighty Rah" show shades of "Planet Rock" with their tossed salad of bright beats and dark keyboards and it's on those songs that the reverb reaches Lee Perry levels, with MCs and soul samples echoing like crazy.
Unfortunately, when they could have stopped it at 12 tracks and had a pretty good party on their hands (provided they switched out the awful, overly repetitive "Pick Up on This" with the wild dancefloor rave-up "Meet Me at the Party"), they kept right on going, and it stops being fun after a certain point-- especially when songs like "Electro Salsa" don't develop at all. At any rate, I never expected a masterpiece from Bambaataa at this stage of the game, and Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light is, as one might reasonably expect, not a masterpiece. It's also not essential listening-- Tommy Boy's Looking for the Perfect Beat comp is probably all the Bambaataa most people will ever need-- but it sure is fun.
